New Sudbury group to examine voke school membership

Saturday

Jul 26, 2014 at 12:07 AM

By Scott O'ConnellDaily News Staff

SUDBURY - With the clock ticking on the town's decision to reaffirm its membership with Minuteman High School, selectmen this week formed a special committee to help determine the best vocational education option for Sudbury's students.The vocational education options committee, which will be comprised of several elected officials, school administrators, and at-large members, will specifically tackle the question of whether Sudbury should leave Minuteman.At the very least, the town needs to decide if it will sign a revised agreement with the regional vocational district."By (next) May Town Meeting, we really need to know what we're going to do," said board Vice Chairwoman Pat Brown, one of the two selectmen representatives on the committee. "Just saying no to Minuteman is not an option - we need to provide a vocational choice for our students, so they have that option."The new panel's overall mission, she said, would be to find vocational programs "that are both educational and financially appropriate" for Sudbury and its students.One of the town's main problems with Minuteman, and one shared by several other smaller towns in the region that belong to the district, is the high cost to send its relatively low number of students to the high school. Sudbury officials are especially concerned about the potential impact of a planned renovation of the school that could cost as much as $120 million.Member towns have griped about the fact that non-member towns, whose students make up nearly half of Minuteman's enrollment, have not had to pay for the school's capital costs.Already this year, both Wayland and Weston residents have voted in favor of having their towns leave the district. Several other Minuteman members, including Sudbury, decided to table a vote to sign a new regional agreement with the high school introduced by Minuteman earlier this year. Officials at the school have said agreeing to the new pact will make it easier for current member towns to leave.The panel Sudbury has to put together to analyze the situation so far is comprised of Brown, fellow selectman Bob Haarde, Finance Committee member Bill Kneeland, Sudbury school board member Scott Nassa, and the town's representative on the Minuteman School Committee, Dave Manjarrez. Brown is also signing up a member of the Lincoln-Sudbury school board as well as Curtis Middle School Principal Stephen Lambert and Lincoln-Sudbury Superintendent/Principal Bella Wong.The town is planning to find two members of the general public to join the committee as well."This is a very important question, and so far it's shaping up to be a very good committee," said Chuck Woodard, selectmen chairman. "I'm pleased to see this happening."Scott O'Connell can be reached at 508-626-4449 or soconnell@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottOConnellMW

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